
■ 3 



197 


THE TRIBUNE WAR TRACTS, 




>py 1 


Ko. Z. 






'Qf^ 


^ 



HOW TO P30SECDTE AND HOW TO END THE WAR. 



SPEECH 



MAJ.-GEN. BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, 

AT TDB 

ACADEMY OF MUSIC, 

THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 2, 18C3. 



Th« magtiiGcent assemblage of the choicest of 
the city, which gathered on Thuisday evening. 
April 2, in the Academy of Music, to greet the hero 
of the Gulf, has seldom been paralleled in the his- 
tory of this continent. The house was completely 
filled in every part long before the hour of com- 
mencement. While waiting for that hour — 

Major-Gen. Wool, upon advancing to take his 
§cat on the platform, was recognized by the au- 
dience, and greeted with applause, which he ac- 
knowledged in a few firm and patriotic words. 

At 7 1-2 o'clock precisely Senator Morgan, ac- 
compnnieJ by several gentlemen, conducted Gen. 
Butler upon the stage. Immediately there began 
a cry of enthusiasm and a scene of excitt-'ment 
wiiich very few people in this city have witnessed. 
W'iih the thunders of applause, shouts of admira- 
tion, waving of hats, bouquets and liandkerchiefs, 
the whole interior of the Academy e.\cept the 
roof was alive and in motion. For several min- 
utes this continued. At last, when it had partially 
subsided, Seuator Morgan presented Gen. Butler 
to the Mayor. The presentation was but a panto- 
mime, for the cheering was yet so great that the 
Senator's words could not be heard. 

Tl.e Mayor th^n welcomed Gen. Butler, in an 
escecJingly pertinent and happy addre.-s, which 
was enlliufiastically received, — the General, who 
was in citizen's dress, standing the while. When 
the Mayor had concluded — 
^ Gen. Butler advanced, and, after the tumultuous 
•jppliuse vith which he was again giCKted bad 
subsided, he said ; 

Mr. Mayor, with the profoundest gratitude for 
the too natieiing commendation of my adminis 
tration of the various trusts committed to me by 
the Governmtrnt, which, in behalf of your asso- 
ciates, you have been pleased to tender me. I ask 
you to receive my most h<iartfelt thanks. To the 



citizens of Xew Tort here asyemMed in kind ap-' 
preciation of my services supposed to have beea 
rendered to the country, I tender the deepest ae- 
knowledgments [Applause.] I accept it all, 
not for myself, but for my brave comrades of the 
Army of the Gulf. [Renewed applause.] I re- 
ceive it as an earnest of your devotion to the coi 
try, an evidence oi your loyalty to the constitutii 
uud'-r which you live and under which you hop 
to die. In order that the acts of the Army of the 
Gulf may be understood, perhaps it would be well, 
at ft little length, with your permission, that; soma 
dt-tail should be given lo the tiiesis upon wui-h we 
administered our dutiea The first qu-^stion then, 
to be ascertained is. Wiiat is tliis cosiest in which 
the country is engaged? At the risk ol being a 
liltlrt tedious, at the risk even of cailijg your at- 
tention to what miglit seem otherwi-e too elemen- 
tary, I propose to run down tlirou a tl;e history 
of ihe contest to see whni it is tl.at the whole 
country is about at this day and this hour. That 
we are in the midst of civil commotion, oU know 
But what is that commotion t Is it a not ? h it 
an in -uriection ? Is it a rebellion? Or is it a 
revolution? And pi ay, si-, aithouLrh it may seem 
btiU more elemeniary," What is a not? Ariot.it* 
I understand it, is simply an outburst of ihe pav 
sioii of men for the nion.ent in or. ach of the law 
to be put down nml subdued by the civil amhori- 
lies; if it goes further, to be dealt with bv (he 
military auilioriiies. But you say, sir, "Why 
treat us to a definition of a riot xjpoa this occa 
sion ? Wliy, ofall things, should you undeitaka 
to instruct a Xew York audience in what a riot 
is?" [Laughter.] To that I answer, because Ilia 
Administration of Jlr. Buchanan dealt with Ihia 
great change of aft'.iiis as if it were a riot, be- 
cause his Government officer cave the opinion that 
in Chaijeston it was but a riot; and ns tliere was 
no civil authority tiirre to chU out tlie military, 
therefore Sumter must be given over to the riot- 
ers ; and that was the beiiinning of '.his slriiggla. 
Let us see how it grew up. Ideal not now ia 
i causes but in effects — in facts. Lirecily after th* 
guns of the Rebt-ls hid turned upon feumter, lh« 
various States of the South, in Convention a«.«em- 
bled, inaugurated U series of movements which 
took out from the Union divers States; and u 
each waa attempted to be taken out, the riot wa* 




BO longer found \n tVirm.lmt tliey became insur- 
rectioimi-y ; and tlie Aiiministiation, upon the 15tli 
of April, 18G1, dealt wiMi it a* an inBurrection, 
and called out tlie niiiitia of tlie United States to 
Bubdiie an insuiTrction. I wns CHlifd at that time 
into the service, to administer the laws in putting 
down an insurrection. I found « riot at Bilti- 
more. They burned l.ridges; but they had hardly 
arisen to the digriity of an insut-rection, because 
the Siiite had not moved as an organized com- 
munit}'. A few men were rioting at Baltimore; 
and as I marched there at the head of United 
States troops, the question came up before me, 
•what have I before me. You will remember that 
I offered then to put down all kinds of insuri-ee- 
tions so long as the State of Maryland remained 
loyal to the United States. Transferred from 
thence to a wider sphere at Fortress Monroe, I 
found that the Slate of Virginia through its organ- 
iz\tion liad taken itself out of the Union, and was 
endeavoring lo erect for itself an Independent Gov- 
ernment; and I dealt with that State as being in 
rebellion, and thought the property of the Rebels, 
of whatever name or nature, should be dealt with 
as rebellious property and contraband, [Great 
applause.] 

I have been thus careful in stating the various 
Btops, because, although through your kindness 
replying to eulogy, I am here answeiing every 
charge of inconsistency and wrong of intention for 
my acts done before the country. Wrong in judg- 
ment I may have been, but, I insist, wrong in in- 
tention or inconi^istent, never. Upon the same 
theory upon which I felt m\-self bound to put down 
insurrection in Maryland while it remained loyal, 
whether that insurrection consisted of blacks or 
whites, by the same loyalty to the Constitution 
and laws I felt bound to confiscate slave property 
in tlie rebellious State of Virginia. [Applause] 
Pardon me, sir, if right here I say that I am a little 
seusiiive upon this subject I am an oid-fnshioned 
Andrew Jackson Democrat of twenty years' stand- 
ing. [Applause. A voice: "The second hero of 
Kew Oi leans." Renewed applause, culminating in 
thiee ciieers.] And so far as I know, I have never 
swerved, so help me God, from one of his teachings. 
[Great apphiu^e.] Up to the time that disunion 
took place, I went as far as the furthest in sustain- 
ing liie constilu'ional rights of the States, however 
biiter or however distasteful to ne were the obli- 
gations my fathers had made for me in the com- 
promises of the Constitution, and among them it 
was not for me to pick out the sweet from the bit- 
ter; and, fellow-Democrats, I took them all [loud 
cheers], liecause they were constitutional obliga 
tioDS [applause]; and, taking them all. I stood by 
the Soulii, and by Southern ri^'hts under the Con- 
stitution, until I advanced and looked into the very 
pit of disunion, and not liking the prospect I quiets 
iy withdrew. [Immense aj^phiuse and laughter] 
And we were fioni that hour apart, and how far 
apart you can judge when I tell you that on the 
2Sth Dceonibcr, 1860, I shook hands on terms of 
pcrsonul frieiulsliip with Jefferson Davis, and on 
vhe 2SLh Decemher, 1862, I had the pleasure of 
reading his proclamation that I was to be hanged 
at eiglit. [Great applau.ee and laugliter.] And 
row, my friends, if you will allow me lo pass on 
for a nioment in this line of thought, as we come 
up to the point of time when their men laid down 
their constitutional obligations: What were my 
lights, and what wore tlieiis?" At that hour they 
repudiated the Consiitution of the United States, 
by solemn vote in sokma convention; and not 



only that, but they took arms In their hands, and 
undertook bj' force to rend from the Government 
what seemed to them the fairest portion of the her- 
itage which my faliiers had given to me as a rich 
legicy to my children. When they did that, they 
abiogated, abnegated, and forfeited every consti- 
tutional right, and released me from every constitu- 
tional obligation. [Loud cheers.] And when I was 
thus called upon to siiy what should be my 
action with regard to slavery, I was left to the 
natural instincts of mj' heart, as prompted bv a 
Christian education in IS'ew England, and I dealt 
with it accordingly, as I was no longer bound- 
[Immense applause.] Then I undertook earnestly 
and respectfully to maintain, with the same sense 
of duty to my constitutional obligations and to 
State rights, so long as they rem-uned under tho 
Constitution, that required me to support the svis— 
tom of slavery — and the same sense of duty and 
right, after they had gone out from under that 
Constitution.caused me to follow the dictates of my 
own conscience untrammeled. [Cheers.] So, my 
friends, you see, however misjudging I may have 
been — and I speak to my old Democratic friends — 
I claim we went along, step by step, up to that 
point, and we should still go along, step by step; 
for, except the right to hold slaves was made a 
part of the compromises made by our fathers in 
the Constitution, and if their J^tate rights were to 
be respected because of our allegiance to the Con- 
stitution and our respect to Staie rights, yet, when 
that sacred obligation was taken away, and we ns 
well as the negroes were disenthralled, why should 
not we follow the dictate of God's law and hu- 
manity? [Tremendi)u« applause, and cries of 
"Bravo, Bravo."] By the exigencies of the public 
service, removed once more to another sphere of 
action, at Kew Orleans, I found this problem to 
come up in another form, and that led me to exam- 
ine and see how fir had progressed this civil 
commotion, now carried on by force of arms. I 
found, under our complex system of States and an 
independent government, and the United States 
covering all, that there can be treason to the State 
and not to the United StHtes, and revolution in the 
Slate and not as regards the United States, and loy- 
alty to the State and disloyalty to the Union, and 
loyalty to the Union and disloyalty to the organized 
government of the Siate. And, ns an illustration, 
take the troubles which almost lately arose in the 
State of Rhode Island, where there was an attempt 
to rebel against the S aie government, nnil to 
change the form of State government. All of you 
are familiar with the movements of Mr. Dorr; 
there was no intent of disloyalty against t lie Uni- 
ted Slates, but a great deal against the State gov- 
ernment I, therefoi'e, in Louisania, found a State 
government that had entirely chnnged its form, 
iiiid had revolutionized itseU so far as phe could; 
created courts and imposed taxes; and I found, so 
far as this State government was concerned, it. was 
no longer in and of itself one of the United States 
of America. Ii had, so f-tr as it couM, changed if^ 
State government, and by solemn act. had lorever 
seceded from the United States of America, ait 
attempted to join the Confederate States; and 1 
found, I respectfully submit, a revolutionized State I 
There had heen a revolution licj-ond an insurrec- 
tion and infraciion of the law; beyond the ab- 
negation and setting aside of the law, and a new 
StHte government formed, that was being support- 
ed by force of arms. 

^'ow, upon what thesis shall I deal with thesa 
people 7 Organized iato a community under foim% 



ft 



of law, tlicy hnd seized a portion of the territory of 
the United Slates; and I respeeifuUy submit I must 
deal with lliem ns alien enemies. [Oreiit applause.] 
They liad forever passed the boundary of wayward 
Bisters [great laughter and applause], unless indeed 
they ened as Cuin did against his brother Abel. 
They had passed be3"oiid ihut and outside of that. 
Aye, and Louisiana had done this in the strongest 
possibe way, for she had seized on territory which 
the Government of the Unite! States had bought 
and paid for. Therefore 1 dealt with them as alien 
enemies. [Applause ] And what rights have alien 
enemit^s ciiptured in war? They have the right, 
•o long as I hey behave thnmselves and are non- 
combatants, to be free from personal violence ; they 
have no other rights; anJ, tiierefore, it was my 
duty to see to it, and I believe the record will show, 
I>iKl see to it. [Great applause and loud cheers.] 
I did see to it tlnit order was jirescrved, and that 
every man who beliaved well, and di 1 not aid the 
Confederate States, should not be molested in his 
person. I held everything else that they had was 
ftt tile mere}' of the comjueror [cheers]; and to give 
you an idea of it, permit me to state the method in 
■which their rights were defined by one gentleman 
of my staff, lie very coolly paraphrased the Dred 
Scott decision, and said they liad no rights which a 
negro was bound to respect. [Loud and prolonged 
laughter and che-rs.] And dealing with them, I 
took care to protect all men in personal safety. 
Now 1 heard a friend behind me sny, But how did 
that affect loyal men? The difficulty with that 
proposition is this: in governmental action the 
Government, iu making peace and carrying on 
■war, cannot deal with individuals, but with organ- 
ized communities, whether organized wrongly or 
rightly [cheers], and all I could do, so far as my 
judgment taught me, for tlie Inyal citizen, was to 
Bee to it that no e.xietion should be put upon him. 
No property should be taken away from him that 
•was not absolutely necessary for the success of mill 
tary operations. I know nothing else that I could 
do. 1 could not alter the carrying on of the war, 
because loyal citizens were, unfortunately, like Dog 
Tray, found in bad company [laughter] ; and to 
their persons, and to their property, even, all possi- 
ble protection I caused to be afforded. But let me 
repeat — for it is quite necessary to keep it in mind, 
and I am afraid that the want of this is why some 
of my old Democratic friends have got lost, in get- 
ting frrtin one portion of the country to the other, 
in their thoughts and feeling's — let me repeat that, 
in making war or making peace, carrying on gov- 
ernmental 0|i^r:ition3 of any sort, governments and 
their representaiives, so far as I am instructed, can 
deal only with organized communities, and men 
must fall or rise with the communities in which 
they are sitnaied. You in New York must Ibllow 
the Guveriinient, as cxpiessed by the will of the 
majoriiy of your State, until yo'i can revolutionize 
ugninst that Government; and those loyal at the 
South must, until ihis contest comcs into processof 
Be'tlement, also follow tliC action of the organized 
mnjorilies in which their lot has been cast; and no 
■•hiaii, no set of m»-n, can s- e tiie solution of this or 
any other governmental problem, as effecting 
Slates, except upon this basis. Now, then, to pass 
from the pa titular to the general, to leave the 
detail in Loniiana, wiiich I have run down the ac- 
count of railier as illustrating niy meaning than 
otlKrwise, I come to ilie propo:itiun, What is the 
contest with all the States that are banded together 
in the s^vcalled Confederate States? Into what 
form hai it coma ? li stoi-ted in ius unection ; it 



grewoipa rebellion; it has become a revolution, 
and carrying with it all the r'lshu of a revolution. 
And our Government has deilt with it upon that 
ground. When they blockaded their poi ts, they 
dealt with it as a revolution ; when they sent oit 
cartels of exchanijo of prisoners, they dealt with 
these people no longer as cimple insnrrectioi.ista 
and traitors, but as organized revolutionists, who 
had set up a government for themslves upon the 
territoi-y of the United States. Let no man sny to 
me, sir, let no man say to me, " why then vou ac- 
knowledge the rights of revolution in these' ni<-n I" 
I beg your pardon, sir; I only acknowledge the 
fact of revolution — what had iiappened. I look 
these things iu the face, and I do not dodge them 
because they are unplensant; I find this a revolu- 
tion, and these men are no lonijer, 1 repeat, our 
erring brethren, but they are our alien enemies, for- 
eigners [cheers] carrying on war against us, at- 
tempting to make alliances against us, attemi>ting 
to get into the family of nations. 1 agree, not a 
successful revolution, and a revolution never to be 
successful [loud cheers] ; pardon me, I was speak- 
ing of a matter of law, — never to be successful un- 
til acknowledged by the parent State. And now, 
then, I am willing to tinito with you in your 
cheers when you say, a revolution which we 
never will acknowledge. [Cheers.] Why, 
sir, have I .been so careful in bringing down 
with great distinctness these distinctions? Because, 
in my judgment, there are certain logical conse- 
quences following from them as necessarily as 
various corollaries from a problem in Euclid. If 
we are at war, as I think, with a foreign country 
to all intents and purposes, how can a man here 
stand up and say he is on the side of that forciga 
country and not be an enemy ? [Cheers.] Amaa 
must be either for his country or against hia 
country. [Cheers.] He cannot be throwing im- 
pediments all the time in the way of the progress 
of his country under pretense that he is help- 
ing some other portion of his country. If a maa 
thinks that he must do something to bring back 
his erring brethren, if he likes that form of plirase, 
at the South, let him take his musket and go down 
and try it iu that way. [Cheers.] If he ii still of 
a different opinion, and tliinks that is not the best 
way to bring them back, but he can do it by per- 
suasion and talk, let him go down with me to 
Louisiana, and I will set him over to Mississippi, 
and if the Rebels do not feel for his heartstrings, 
but not in love, I will bring him back. [Cheeia, 
loud and prolonged, "Send Wood down first! "] 
Let us say to him : " Choose ye this day whom ye 
will serve. If the Lord thy God be God, serve 
him; if Baal be God, serve ye him." [Cheers.] 
But no man can serve two masters, God and Jlam- 
mon. ["That's so."] Again, there are other log- 
ical consequences to flow from this view which I 
have ventured to take of this subject, and that ia 
with regard to past political action. If they are 
now alien enemies, I am bound to them by no ties 
of jiariy fealty. They have passed out of that, and 
I think we ought to go back a moment and exam- 
ine and see if all lies of party allegiance and party 
fealty as regards tliem are uot broken, and that I 
am now to l"ok simply to my country and to its 
service, and have them lo look to the country they 
are attem[iting to erect and to its service, and tbea 
let us try the coneluiion between us. ilark, by 
this I gave up no leiritory of the United States. 
Every foot that was ev^r circumscribed on the 
map by the lines around the United States belongs 
to us. [AppUuse.J ^oue the le^s bec»U9» bad 



men have attempted to organize -w^orse Govern- 
ment upon various portions of it And it is to 
be drawn in under our laws and onr Govei-nment 
as soon as the power of tli« United States can be 
exerted forthat purpose; and therefore, my friend?, 
you see the next set of logical consequences that 
must follow: that we iiave no occasion to carry on 
the fight for the Con-titulion as it wa«. [Cheers.] 
I beg your pardon, the Constitution as it is. Who 
is interfering with the Constituiion as it is? Who 
is interlering with the Constitution? AVho makes 
any attacks upon the Constitution if We are fi^ht- 
ins; witli those whi have gone out and repudiated 
the Con-til ution. [Cheers.] And now, my friends, 
I do not know but I sliall use some heresy, but 
as a Democrat, as an Andrew Jackson Democrat, 1 
am not for the Union as it was. [Great cheering. 
" Good ! " " Good !"] 1 say, as a Democrat, and an 
Andrew Jackson Democfat, I am not for t'le Union 
to be ngaiu as it was. Understand me: I was for 
tlie Union as it was, because I saw, or thought I 
caw, the troubles in the future which have hurst 
■upon us; but havinc; underi^one tho^e troubles, 
liaving spent all this blood, and this treasure, I do 
not mean to go back again and be cheek by jowl 
Trith South Carolina a< I was before, if I can help 
it. [Cheers. "You're right."] Mark me niiw, let 
no man misunderstand me, and I repeat lest I may 
be misundersLoO'l — there are none so slow tounder- 
efand a* liiose who do not wan', to — mark mp, I say 
I do not mean to give up a single inch of the soil 
of South Carolina. If 1 had been alive at that time, 
and hail had the position, the will, and the ability, 
I would have dealt with Sontli Carolina a" Jackson 
did, and kept her in the Union at all hazards, but 
Bow she has gone out, and I will take care that 
vhen she comes in again she comes in better be- 
haved [clu-ei-o] ; that she shall no longer be the 
firehrau'i of the Union; aye, and that she 
shall enjoy, what her peoj^le never yet have en- 
joyed, the lilessings of a Republican form of gov- 
ernment. [Api>lau«e.] And, therefore, in that 
view, I am not for the recon-tructioa of the Union 
OS it was. Yet I have spent treasure and blood 
enough upon it, in conjunction with my fellow- 
eitizens, to make it a Lttle better. [Cheers.] It 
•was good enough if it had been left, alone. The 
old house was good enough for me, but as they have 
pulled down all the L part, I propose, when we 
build it up, to build it up wiiii all the modern 
improvements. [Prolonged laughter and ap- 
plause] 

Another of the loiieal consequences, it seems to 
me, that follow with inexorable and not-to-be- 
ehunned couise upon this proposition that we are 
dealing wiih alien enemies, is in our duties with re- 
gard to the confiscation of their property; and that 
•would seem to me to be easy of settlement under 
the Constitution, and without any discussion, if my 
first proposition is right. Has it not been held, 
from the beginning of the world down to this diiy, 
from the time the Israelites took possession of the 
Land of Cannan, which they got from alien ene- 
mies, has it not been held that the whole proper- 
ty of those siYion enemies belonged to the con- 
qiieror, and that it has been at" his mercy »nd 
his cleuienny what should be done with if For 
one, I would take it. anil give the loyal moa who 
-was loyal in the heart of the South euonsrh to make 
him as wei; as he was l.elore, and I would take the 
balancf' of it and distribute it among the volunteer 
eoldi^r- who have g., no— [the remainder of the 
sentence was drowned iu a tremeudoua burst of 
applrtusv.] And no lar as 1 know them, U ive 



should settle Sontli Carolina irith them, in the 
course of a few years I should be quite willing to 
receive her back into the Union. [Renewed ap- 
plause.] That leads us to deal with another prop- 
osition : What shall be done with the slaves f 
Here, again, the laws of war have long settled, 
with clearness and exactness, that it is for the con- 
queror, for the aovernment which has maintained 
or extended its direction over the territory, to deal 
with slaves as it pleases, to free them or not as it 
chooses. It is not for the conquered to make 
terms, or to send their friends into the conquering 
country to make terms upon that subject.. [Ap- 
plause.] Another corollary follows from the 
proposition that we are fighting with alien ene- 
cnies, which relieves us from another difficulty 
which see'ns to trouble some of my old Democratic 
friends; and that is in relation to the question of 
arming the negro slaves. If the States are nlien' 
enemies, is there any objection that j'ou know of, 
and if so state it, to our arming one portion of tlie 
foreign country agtinst the other while they are 
fic,htingus? [Applause?, and cries of " No," " No."] 
Suppose that we were at war with England. Who 
would get up here in New York and say that we 
must not arm the Irish, lest they should liurt some 
of the Eutrlish ? [Applause.] At one time, not 
very far gone, all tiiose Englishmen were our 
grandfathers' brothers. But we are now sepanite 
nations. 'I'here can be no objection, for another 
reason, because there is no intei'nationnl law, or 
any other law of government action that I know 
of, which prevents the country from arming any 
portion of its citizens; and if the slaves do not 
lake part in the rebellion they become, simply, our 
citizens residing in our territory, which is at pres- 
ent usurped by our enemies. [Applause.] At this 
waning hour 1 do not propose to discuss but mere- 
ly to hint at these various subjects. [Cries of " Go 
on."] There is one question 1 am frequently asked 
— " Why, General Butler, what isyour experience! 
Will the negroes fight?" To that I answer, I have 
no personal experience, because I left the Depart- 
meut of the Gulf before they were fairly brought 
into action. But they did fi^ht, under Jackson, at 
Chalmette. More than that: let Napoleon IIL 
answer, who has hired them to do what the vete- 
rans of the Crimea cannot do — to whip the MexL- 
cnns. Let the veterans of Napoleon I., unJer Le 
Cleve, who were whipped out from San Domingo, 
say whether they will fight or not. What has been 
the demoralizing effect upon them, as a race, by 
their contact with white men, I know not; but I 
cannot forget that their fathers would not have 
been slaves but that they were captives in war. 
And, if you want to know any more than that, I 
can only advise you to trj' ihem. [Great applause.] 
Passing to another logical deduction from the 
principle that we are carrying on war against 
alien enemies, I meet the question, ■wliether we 
thereby give foreign nations any greater rights 
than if we considered them as a Rebellious por- 
tion of our country. So far as the Rebels are 
concerned, they are estopped from denying that 
they are alien enemies; and so far as foreig^j^ji 
nations are concerned, although they are alien tt»- 
Its. they are upon our territory, and until we 
acknowledge their independence there is no better 
settled rule in the law of nations than that foreisa 
recognition of them is an act of war. And no 
country is more sternly bound to that view thaa 
is England, which held the recognition by France 
of our own independence to be an act of war, aud 
declared war accordingly. Wiiat then is the duty 



of neutrals? Let ns take for example the English 
nation. They have no treaty with the Rebels, no 
open relatious with them. They have treaties of 
amity and commerce with us. A contest arises 
between us and our enemies to whom they are 
strangers, and they claim to exercise the same 
neutrality as if tlin contest were between two 
nations with whicli tliey had treaties of amitv. 
Let me illustrate: I have two friends who jjave 
got into a fi.i];ht. I am on equally good terms with 
both, and do not choose to take part in their 
quarrel. I hold myself neutral. But suppose one 
of my friend* is flighting with a stranger, of whom 
I know nothing that is good; 1 have seen nothing 
except that he would fight; is it my duty then to 
stand perfectly neutral ? It is not the p;\rt of a 
friend as between men nor between nations. The 
JEnglisli say, We will not sell you any arms, because 
"^ve should have to sell the same to toe Co;ifederate 
Stales. To that I answer, you have treaties of 
commerce with us by whicli you agree to trade 
•with us. You have no treaty of commerce with 
the Rebels. I insist that there is a greater duty 
to us, considering this as a separate nation — an 
interloper trying to get admitted into the family 
of nations. There is still another logical conse- 
quence which, in my judgment, follows from this 
Tiew of the case. A great question put to me has 
been : " Uuw are we to get tlio^e men back ? — how 
are we to get this territory back ? — how are we to 
reconstruct the Union ?" I think that is much 
better answered upon this hypothesis than upon 
any other: There are but two ways in which this 
contest can be ended. One is by rerevolutioniz- 
ing a given portion of this country, and having 
them ask to be admitted into the Union ; the other 
is to bring it back by the triumphal car of victory. 
Whenever any portion of the inhabitants of the 
South shall become again a part of the Union, and 
•hall erect themselves into a State nnd ask us to 
take them back wi;h such a Constitution as they 
onsjht to be admitted with, there is no difficulty 
in i'8 being done. There is no witchery about it. 
This precise thing has been done in Western 
Virg'i.-»ia. She went out, and stayed out for a 
•while. jBy the aid of our armies, and by the 
efforts of her citizens, she rerevolntionized and 
threw off the Government of the rest of Virginia, 
and the Confederate yoke, erected herself into a 
Slate, with a Constitution which I believe is quite 
satisfactory to you, especially with the amend- 
ment, came back, and has been received acrain into 
the Union. This is the first, the entering wedge, 
of the series of States wliich will come back in 
that way. But if they will not come back, we 
are bound to subjugate them. What then do they 
become! Territories of the United States. [Ap- 
plause.] We ncquiie them precisely as we acquired 
Califoruiaand Nevada; not. exactlv as we acquii-ed 
Texas. Was there any difficulty in dealing with 
the State of California? Will there be any diffi- 
culty in our admitting, as a new State, Nevada, 
when ready to come iu and ripe to come in ? Was 
there any difficulty in taking in a portion of the 
mi Louisiana purchase I Will there be any ditucultv, 
wlien her people are ready, in our taking theni 
back again? Will there lue any difficulty in re- 
constructing the Union, when those that have 
gone out without cause, without right, wiilinui 
grievance, that have fi.>rmed thenisclves into new 
Slates and taken upon iheiuselves new alliances, 
are ready to return^ I am not for taking tliem 
back withont readmlfsii.n. 1 feel au a husl>and 
might leel, whose wile had run away with another 



man and divorced herself from him; I should ba 
unwilling to take her again to my arms until we 
had gone before the priest, and been remarried. I 
have the same feeling with regard to those people 
who have gone out. When they repent and come 
back, I am ready to receive them ; but I am not 
ready till then. [Applause.] 

To your flattering allusions, sir, to my acts in the 
Department of tlid Gulf, I will answer a pingle 
word. When I left th«t Department, 1 sat down 
deliberately, and put in the f rm of an address to 
the people of that Department an exr.ct account of 
the acts I had done while there, and 1 said to them : 
You know I have done these things; no man can 
deny it I have waited more than three months, 
and I have not yet hrard any denial from that De- 
partment that those thing-» were done. T<> that 
fact I point as the justification of your too flatter- 
ing eulogy, as an answer forever to every sl.iniier 
and every calumny. The lailies of New Orleans 
knew whether they were safe. Has any one of 
them ever said she was not? The men of New Or- 
leans knew whether their life and property were 
safe. Has any man ever said it was nolf The 
poor of New Orleans know whether the money that 
was taken from the rich rebels was fed out to them. 
Has any one of them denied it? [Applause.] To 
that record I point as tiie only answer I shall ever 
make to the calumnies that have been poured upon 
me, and upon the officers everywhere in that De- 
partment that aided so successfully in carrying out 
every effort for the good of the country. [Ap- 
plause.] I desire now to say a single word ii-pon 
the question. What are the prospects of this war? 
My opinion would be no better than that of an- 
other man ; but let me show you the reason for il.te 
faith that is in me, that this war is progress- 
ing steadily to a successful termination. Compare 
the state of the country on January 1, 1SG3, with 
the Slate of the country on Januaiy 1, 1802, and 
tell me whether there has not been progress. At 
that time the Union armies held no consideralde 
portion of Missouri, of Kentucky, or of Teiincs-ee; 
none of Virginia except Fortress Monroe and Ar- 
lington nights; none of North Carolina save Plat- 
teras, and none of South Carolina save Port Royal. 
All the rest was ground of struggle at least, and 
all the rest furnishing supplies to the re^iela. 
Now they hold none of Missouri, none of Kentucky, 
none of Tennessee for any valuable puipo;e of sup- 
plies, because the western portion is in our hands, 
and the eastern portion has been so run over by 
the contending armies that the supplies are gone. 
They hold no portion of Virginia valuable for sup- 
plies, for that is eaten out by their armies. A\ e 
hold one third of Virginia, and half of North Caro- 
lina. We hold our own in South Carolina, and I 
hope that before the ilth of this month we shall hold 
a little more. [Applause.] We hold two tliirds 
of Louisiana in wealth and population. We hold 
all Arkansas and all Texas, so far as 8iip|dics are 
concerned, so long as Furragiit is between Port 
tiud-on and Vicksburg. [Applause.] And I be- 
lieve the colored troops liold Florida at the last 
accounts. [Applause.] The rebellion is reduced 
to the remainder of Virginia, part of North Caro- 
lina, the larger part of South Carolina, all of Geor- 
gia, Alabama aii<l Missi-ssiopi, and a small poi tioa 
of Louisiana and Tennessee — Texas and Ai kan>a?, 
as 1 said before, being cut off. Why I draw strong 
hopes from this is t hat their supplies all came either 
from Kentucky, Tenne^s-'e, Missouri, Arkans.is, or 
Texas, and these are complt-tely now beyond their 
reaclu To that 1 iook lai gely for the eunpressioa 



6 



of tbis rebellion, and the overthrow of this revolu- 
tion. Tbey have got to the end of tlieir eonscrip- 
liun; we have not begun ours. Tbey have got to 
the end of tbtir national credit; we bave not put 
ours in any inni'ket in the world. [Applause.] 
"Why should we be impatient? The llevolutionai-y 
"War lasted seven years. Nations at war ever move 
slowly. It has seemed strange to me tliat our 
Navy could not catch tlie steamer Alabama; but a 
frit-nd reminded me that I'aid Jones, with a sailing 
ship even, upon the coast of Englanil, bid defiance 
to llie whole British navy for many months; and 
that Lord Cochrane, with a single ship, held the 
•whole French coast in terror. iSo that, if we will 
only have a little padeuce, and possess our souls 
with a little patriotism, we shall have no reason to 
comphiin. 

But there is one thing, I say frankly, that I do 
not like the appearance of. I refer to tiie war made 
■upon our commerce. It is not the fault of the 
Navy, or uf any department of ibe Government; 
but it is the fault of our allies. Pardon me a mo- 
ment, ior I am speaking now to the merchants of 
New York, as this is a matter on which I have giv- 
en some i-efleciion. Pardon me while we examin«' 
to see what England has done. She agieed to be 
neutral. I trieJ to demonstrate to 30U that she 
ought to have been a Hi tie more. But has she 
been? [Cries of "No, no."] Let us see the evi- 
dence of that " No." Li the first place, there has 
been nothing in the Union cause but what her ora- 
tors and statesmen have maligned. There has been 
nothing we bave done that has not been perveried 
by her press. There lias been nothing of sympathy 
or encourag-'ment which she has not afforded our 
eremiiM. There has b>-en nothing which she could 
do under a cover of neutrality which she has not 
done to help Rebels. ["That is true."] Nassau 
has been a naval arsenal for pi ivate Rebel boats 
to refit in; Kingston has been a coal depot; and 
Barbadoes has lieen a dancing-hall to fete pirate 
chiefiains in. [Great applause.] What cause, my 
friends, what cause, my countrymen, had she so to 
deal with us V What is the reason she has so 
dealt with us? Is it because we have never shown 
sympathy toward her or love to her people? and 
mark me lieie: I diaw a distinct line between the 
English people, the ina>8es. and the English Gov- 
ernment. I tiiiiik the heart of her people beats 
responsive to oui-s. [Great applause.] But I 
know her Government and her nrisloeracy haie us 
with a hate that passeth all uaderstanding. [Loud 
cheers.] I saj', let us see if we have given an\' 
cause for tliis: You remember when tiie famine 
overlook the Irishmen in lS47,and the Macedonian 
frigate can lod bread to feed the poor wh^n Eng- 
land wassiarviiig. And when hcrfavored heir ap- 
peared her<-, in this very hous», we assenibldl and 
gave him »ucli a welcome as Northern gentlemen 
give to their friends, and his present admirers at 
Pkichmond gave him such a welcome as Sontht-rn 
gentlemen give to iheir fiends. [Lou'i laughter 
and applause.] An-l Iho George Griswold has gone 
from the city^of Now Yi>rk to f^sed the starving 
poor of Lancashire; and it was only by Gild's 
Viiessing that she was not overhaul, d and burned 
by the pirate Alabama, tittc 1 out iu an English 
])ort, [Applause.] Vet. to-day we hear that a 
steamer is being built at, Gliii>gov/ for the Emperor 
of China [lar.giiter and appiaiis-], and at Liver- 

rool r.noiher one for the Emperor of Chin.i. But 
don't believe the Emperor of China will buy 
many ships of Great Brbain until they bring Ictck 
tbu eiiiis tney kLuIc fiuui liu palace at PckLu ! 



[Great laughter.] Now, I learn from the late cor- 
respondence of Earl Russell that the British have 
put two articles of the treaty of Paris in compact 
with the Rebels — first, that enemies gouds shall 
be covered by neutral flags, and there shall be free 
trade at the ports, and open trade with neutrals. 
Why didn't Great Britain put the other part of the 
treaty in compact, namely, that there should be no 
more privateering! if she was honest and earnest? 
Again, when we took from her deck our two Sena- 
tors and Rebel Embassadors, Slidell and Mason, and 
took them, in my judgment, aecorJi^fr to the law* 
of nations, what did slie do but threaten us with 
war? I agree that it was wisely done, perhaps, 
not to provoke war at that time -we were not 
quite in a condition for it — but 1 thank Goil. and 
that always, that we are fast gei'ing Ir? acondiiion 
to remember that always and evt.y day 1 [Tn ■ ^ 
mendous applause, and avivi-'s: >-/ "hami kerchiefs,'"*'" 
and cries of " Good I ] W i.^ is '.* aii this has been 
done? Because, we al-'Dv cau be the comuiercial 
rival of Great Britain! 

There has been, in my iuiigment, a deliberate 
attempt on t..e part of Great Britain, nnder the 
plea of neutrality, to allow our commerce to be 
ruined. [Cries of "That is so."] It is idle to tell 
me Great Britain does not know these vessels are 
fitted out iu her ports. It is idle and insulting to 
tell you that she put the Alabama under ?!20,000 
bonds, not to go into the service of the Confederate 
States. We did not so deal with her when she 
was at war with Russia. Oa the suggestion of the 
British Minister, our Government stopped, with 
the rapidity of lightning, the sailing of a steamer, 
until tlie Minister himself was willing to let her 
go. We must take some means to put a stop to 
these proceedings. I was told the other day that 
tue amount of property ahead}' destroyed would 
amount to $9,OUO,000! What, then, is'our reme- 
dy ? The peaceful and proper remedy, for we 
must look forward to these matters. The Govern- 
ment is no doubt doing it; but we ourselves must 
look at it, for we are the peo[)le — we are the Gov- 
ernment [applause]; and when our Government 
get^ ready to take the step we mu-t be ready to 
sup|)ort it. Enirland tfUs us what to do; \s hea 
tiiere was a likelihood of war she stopped the ex- 
portation of those articles she thought we wanted. 
Let us do the same thing. [Great; applause and 
loud cheers.] Let us proclaim noninieicourse, bo 
that no ounce of food from the United States shall 
by any accident ever find lis way into nn English- 
man's mouth until the piracy is stopped. [Ap- 
plause and cries of " Good," and Voice: "Let u» 
hear that again."] I never say anj-thing that I am 
afraid 10 say again, [Renewed applause.] I say 
again, let us pioc-laim noii-iot-rcouise, so that no 
ounce of fooii from America shall ever by any ac- 
cident find its way to an Englishman's mouth un- 
til these piracies are slopped [greet cheering, and 
cries of "Tlia 'ft so," and " Good!"] ; and that we 
have a right to do. But I hear some objector say. 
If we proi-laim non-iiitercou:->e England may go to 
war ["Let hergol"]; but I am not to be friLriit^ 
enod twice nimiiag. [Laughter and a|iplau-e.] ^ 
I got frightened a little more than a year ago, but 
I iiave got over it. [f.aughter] It is a nece?sity, 
for we must keep imr ships at home to save th< m 
from these jiiratcs, if a dozen of them get loose 
upon the ocean. Ji. becojnes a war measure, which 
a;iy nation under any law would have a I'ight to 
enii'rce: and iisnouid be made to apply directly 
to the English nation, lor I never heard of a block- 
ade runner under ih«i French flag, or Russiau, or 



AnstHan, or Greek flag — no, not even the Tnrts 
T^-ill do it. [Loud cheers nnd app'nuse.] There- 
fore I have ventured fo Fiiggest this to yon oe a 
possible, aje, as n probable, rtmedj, unless tliis 
thing is seen to and stopped. We must see to it. 
We should protect our.<elvea, nnd take a manly 
place amonij ihe nations of the earth. [Loud np- 
plause.l But I hear some say that this will bring 
down tlie price of our provisions, and make our 
Western ninrkets more depressed. Allow me to 
Buggep.t that I he exportation of gold be also i>ro- 
hibited, nnd then tliere would be nothinsf to mert 
our bills of exchange to pay for our goods but our 
provisions, and we could pay for our silks and 
ealins in butler, lard, corn, beef, and pork, and if 
our fair sisters and dnir«hters will wear silks, nnd 
•atins, and laces, they will feel no troutile beciuise 
,a portion of the extra price goes to the Western 
farmer instend of going into the coffers of a Jew 
banker in Wall street. [Great applause aud cries 
of " Good."] 

You will observe, my friends, that in the list of 
grievances with which I charge England, I do not 
charge her with tampering with our "leading 
politicians." [Loud laughter.] So far as any 
evidence I have, I don't know that she is guilty. 
But what shall we say of our leading politicians 
xvho have tampered with her? [Great applause.] 
I have read that — which surprised me more than 
any other fact of this war — that here in New York 
leading politicians consulted with the British Min- 
ister as to how this Union should be sepaiated ; 
and when I read that, every drop of blood in my 
veins boiled, and I would have liked to have seen 
that " leading politician." [Most enthusiastic ap- 
lause, the cheers being renewed again and again.] 
don't know that Lord Lyons is to blame. 1 sup- 
pose, sir, if a m:in goes to one of your clerk?, and 
offers to go into partnership with him to rob one 
of your neichbors, and he refuses an^. reports the 
matter to you, you. don't blame your clerk; but 
■what do yovi do with the man who makes the offer? 
[Great applause, and cries of "Hang him!"] I 
think we had'better take a le?son from the Gov- 
ernment of Washington's Administration, though 
the case is reversed. When the French Minister, 
Citizen Genet, undertook to make an address to 
the people of the United States, complaint was 
made to his Government and he was rec lUed ; and 
a law was passed preventing for all time to come 
anv interference of foiei»;D ministers in the politics 
of the United States. I want to be understood : I 
have no evidence that Lord Lyons interfered at all, 
but the correspondence says that certain leading pol- 
iticians of New York came to him and desired that 
he should do — whatf That he would advise with 
his Government not to interfere? Why not? Be- 
cause it would aid the country — they would spurn 
it, nnd would be stronger than ever to crush tlie 
Rebellion, and " we and our party shall be crushed 
out!" [Great laughter and cheer.->.] ilark the 
insidious point. They knew how the people felt 
against England. They knew the heart of this 
^ people to be true to the Constitution. They knew 
the people would not brook any interference from 
England, and they ask the British Minister to use 
the power of British diplomacy to get other nations 
to interfere, and Great Britain to keep out of eight 
lest we should see the cat under the meal. [Loud 
laughter.] 1 have used the phra^se up to this mo- 
ment, as yon see, of "politician ;" but what kind of 
politicians are they? [Cries of "Copperheads," 
"Traitors," from all over the house, Hmid great 
oheen.] Conservative politiciaoB 1 [Loud laugh- 



f 



ter.] Tliey can't be Democratic po'iticianj. ['• Of 
course they can't"] I should like- to hear old 
Andrew Jackson say a few woid-i aHr.ut such 
politicians, who call themselves Deniocrafj". 
["He'd hang them."] No, my friend, I don't 
think he would hnng them. 1 don't think he 
would ever catih tliem. [Laughter.] I have felt 
it my duty h<'re and now, in the city of New 
York, from the interest I have in public affairs, 
to call attention to this most extraordinary 
matter. It is a matter which arrests the attention 
more than any other, to wit: that there are men so 
lost to patriotism, and so bound up in the traditions 
of party, and so selfish, as to be uilliii;; to tamper 
with Great Britain for the sepaiaiioa of tliis 
country! It is the most alarming fact that I have 
seen. 1 had rather see lOO.dOO men set in the field 
on the Rebel side, — aye, I had rather see Great 
Britain herself armed against us openly, if you 
please, as she has been covertly, — rather than to feel 
that there are men, lineal descendants of Judas 
Iscariot, and intermarried with Benedict Arnold, 
who would thus betray their country. [Loud cries 
of" Fernando Wood," with hi.'ises and cheers. " He 
knows them all."] That has shown me the great 
danger — the only danger — we are in. I call upon 
true men to sustain the Government [Great ap- 
plause.] It is not a Government of my choice. I 
didn't vote for it, or any part of it; but it is the 
Government of my country ; it is the only- 
organ by which I can exert the force of the country 
and protect her integrity; and so lon^' as I believe 
that action is honestly exerted, I will throw tiio 
mantle of charity over any mistakes I think I may 
see, and support it heartily with hand and purst so 
long as I live. [Applause.] - 

I have no loyalty to any man. My loyalty is to 
the Government [cheers, "That's it"]; antl it makes 
no difference to me who the people have put into 
that Government, bo long as it h;is been properly 
and constitutionally d'.ne. So long as they hold 
their seats and hold their j.ower I am a trnitor 
and a false man if I falter in that support This is 
what I understand to be loyaltj- to the Govern- 
ment. [Cheers.] And I was sorry to hear the 
other day that there was a man in New York who 
professed not to know the meanin? of the word. 
["Who was it?" "Fernando Wood !"] I desire 
to say that it is the duty of every man to be loyal 
to the Government to sustain tlie Government, to 
pardon its errors, to help rectify its mistakes, to 
press it on to everything that it nmy do for the 
country, and let i- carry the country on in its 
course of glory and grandeur on which it was 
placed 'b'V evr fathers; for let me say to you, my 
friends, ye^i young men. that no man yet has ever 

frospered who opposed his country in'tinie of war. 
(Cheers.] The Tory ot the Revolution, the Ilart- 
lord Coijventionist of 1812, the immoitai Seven 
that voted against the supplies in the Mexican War, 
all history is against them. And let no politician 
put himself in the way of the march of this conn- 
try to glory and greatness; for he will he crushed. 
Its course is onward and certain, aud let him who 
opposes it beware; 

" The mower mows on thongli the adder may writhe. 
And the Copperhead curl round the blade of tlio scythe." 
[Tremendous applause.] 

It only remains for me, sir, to thank you, nnd 
the citizens of New York here assentbled, for the 
kind attention with which they have lietened to 
me, and with wliich they have received ine, for 
which please, again and again, accept iny thani«. 



PLotifl nn<3 prolonged applause, and tlire« cheers^or 
Gen. Builer.] 

Gen. Butler was immediately surrounded by the 
gentlemen oa the stage, ■which was crowded with 
the leading men of the city, all of whom Eonght to 
present to him their thanks and coni^ratulations. 
Tor many minutes the audience before the stage 
sat in a condition of expectancy. The band played 
"The Star-Spangled Banner," and " Yankee Doo- 
dle," and the Union Glee Club sang a song in 
praise of Gen. Butler. 

ToMi! friend* whri love free'loin, Rnd lotn In rnr song, 
Tur Cuuiitry auJ Uuion we're luarobiog oluii^,'; 



TI16 " C^de" of «nr Bn(l(>T ba< rljTitod a vtobj^ 
And under hib baauer we're marctitog along. 

CnoBca— 

>farchlpg a'ong, we're marrhlns alonst: 
Pur iMir Klacr and our Co')n:ry we're inirchlns alongt 
Let IIS chrer i«r <>nr BnlK-r nnd y-ln in tlie tons, 
Fur treasim was bligUUid whuio ho marclicd aloo^ 

Our Army and Navy Rr« moving alon?, 
Anil our Vi'limtet-r !-oldlers iini " in our Bons; 
Thev fiilit for our fiaa. it can tuff'-r no wrong. 
AVhile liutler and Hooker are uiarching along. 

In tlie 'West and the South we're mnrcliing alon^ 
For the tliumler of Karmgut echoes our son§; 
And tlio veterans <>f U.iso ron-* eaL'erly lliron? 
To join tue glad cborua, Wo'ie uiarcliing aloo^ 

The Mayor then announced that the meeting; was 

adjourned. 



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